Tuesday, November 30, 2010

Grognard's Grimoire: Summon Protector

When the idea of the Animal Kings first occurred to me, it seemed obvious their existence would also imply the existence of animal clerics. Over the course of play, I came to realize that animals needed magic-users too. Even if I hadn't, my inclusion of the Boss of the Rats more or less required that I postulate their existence.

In the course of thinking about animal magic-users, I realized that, like their clerical counterparts, certain spells would need to be re-imagined. This in turn led me to give some more thought to the way that animals and Men interacted with one another. Thus was born the summon protector spell.

The text in the quote box below is hereby designated Open Game Content via the Open Game License.
Summon Protector
Level: 1 (Animal Only)
Duration: See Below
Range: 1 mile per level

By casting this spell, an animal magic-user can obtain a human protector. The casting takes from 1-24 hours (referee's discretion) and uses up items of value appropriate to the caster's species (e.g. meaty bones for a dog, sparkly shards of glass for a rat, etc.) that have an equivalent value of 100 gp. The materials are consumed during the ritual. The referee decides the probability that a protector will respond to the spell and which type of protector is summoned within range. It is possible that no human will respond. This spell may only be attempted one time per year.

A protector is able to grant the caster access to its own senses and is able to understand the caster's wishes in a general, non-verbal way. In addition, a protector is loyal to the caster and will do everything in its power to aid and protect the caster, provided that doing so will not bring harm upon the protector. Protectors are more intelligent than ordinary Men (+1 Intelligence); they always possess a class and 1d4 levels (i.e. no 0 Humans). A protector grants the caster additional hit points equal to one-third of the protector's maximum hit points, when the two are within 120' of one another. However, if a protector is slain, the magic-user must subtract one-quarter of the protector's maximum hit points from his own maximum hit points, permanently.

A new protector may not be summoned for one year. If a protector is located, the referee may use the following as examples:

Protector

Abilities Augmented

Cleric

+1 to armor class

Fighter

+1 to hit

Magic-User

+1 damage per die with spells

Thief

+1 saving throws


Anytime a protector is summoned, there is a 5% chance it is a special protector. The type is determined by the caster's alignment. Special protectors still have a class and level, as above, but they also have a role in human society that gives the caster a possible advantage. A potential protector is entitled to a saving throw versus spells and, if successful, the spell fails and the caster must wait 1 year before trying again.

Alignment

Type

Lawful (Good)

Paladin

Lawful

Magistrate

Lawful (Evil)

Aristocrat

Neutral

Merchant

Neutral (Balance)

Druid

Chaotic

Barbarian


9 comments:

  1. Very intriguing!
    A question: why are Aristocrats Lawful (Evil)? Is the moral part intended as optional?

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  2. The alignments listed are the ones I use in my Dwimmermount campaign. Lawful (Evil) indicates someone who, in the battle of civilization vs. barbarism, favors civilization but he does so primarily because he sees civilization as the best means of self-aggrandizement. So, in this context, an "aristocrat" isn't necessarily someone with a noble title or a position of authority -- not all of them are evil, after all -- so much as a person who uses his position in society, whatever it might be, to lord it over others.

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  3. You know, a spell like this would so explain why some "owners" fawn over their pets. :)

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  4. Anthony,

    That was a big part of the inspiration behind this spell. :)

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  5. Intriguing. Almost an "anti-find-familiar" spell.

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  6. @Joseph:

    There's an intriguing possibility: an animal MU cast this spell and gets a wizard who also has a familiar.

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  7. Hey, I love this. Looks like you have a typo in the following graf, though...you probably meant to swap out 'familiar' below with 'protector'...

    A new protector may not be summoned for one year. If a _familiar_ is located, the referee may use the following as examples:

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  8. A reversal reminiscent of Gene Wolfe's "vivimancer" (a dead sorcerer who summons the living) - very cool.

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